Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend (Universal Title Strap Match)
Daniel Bryan’s quest to dethrone the Fiend continued with this Strap match. Normally this stipulation is atrocious. It just hamstrings the whole match into a slog and makes it slow. The Fiend took the strap straight to Bryan. He smashed it across his back over and over again. Bryan was getting dominated the entire match. He finally turned the corner against him with a vicious kick and the running knees. The Fiend kicked out at 2 barely. Bryan goes for a high risk kick to the outside, hits it, but then gets thrown into the steel steps by Bray.
Bryan’s back is red and welted at this point. He kicks the Fiend, but then earns a clothesline from hell. The match makes its way to the announce table, with Bryan finally taking the strap to the Fiend. Once the match got back into the ring, the Fiend hit an ugly Sister Abigail on Bryan for a close 2. Bryan gets the mandible claw locked in on him, he fights out of it, into a sick looking Yes Lock with the strap. The Fiend fights out and Bryan looks cooked. He’s fought valiantly, but the Fiend keeps coming. Bryan hits the running knees for another close 2, but then the Fiend takes over and locks in the Mandible Claw for a 1,2,3.
Grade: 4/5
Daniel Bryan could lead a plastic bag to a great match. With such an atrocious stipulation, they did the best with what they could. My only complaint is that the match was a little bit long. It told a great story of the resilience shown by Bryan, but the Fiend was just too much for him.
